Improvement in machines for jlejeding cartridge-shells



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A. CAREY. Feeding Cartridge-Shells.

` Machine fur 110.1611382.

Patented March 30, 1875.

AUGUSTUS C. CAREY, OF BOSTON, MASSAGHUSETTQ.

IMPROVEMENT lN MACHINES FQB ErEEDlNG CARTRIDGE-SHELLS.

' Spetiiatiou forming part of Letters Patent- No. IGLIQQ, dateMarchr, 1575; application ilid February To all whom it may concern:

Be it ,known that I, AUGUSTUS C. CAREY, of Boston, in the county of Suttoll; and State of Massachusetts, have invented aaiew and valuable Improvement in Machine-Feeders for Cartridges, te.; and I do hereby declare that the following is a full, clear, and exact description of the construction and operation of thesame, reference being had to the annexed drawings, making a part of this specification, and to the letters and figures of reference marked .thereon. l

l Figure l of the drawing is a representation' ot' a longitudinal vertical section of my machine. Fig. 2 is a front view of the same, and Fig. 3 is a top-plan view.

This invention has relation to improvements in machine-feeders for cartridges. The object of the invention is to do away with hand-feeding in such machines wherein the articles to be operated upon are required to be presented thereto in a given position, and to accomplish the same result by machinery in a positive and unerring manner. 'Io this end the nature of the invention consists in combining` with a hopper for receiving the articles pronjiscuously a feeding-wheel and a tubular duct for conducting the said articles from the hopper to aheading,punching, or other like mechanical device, a device whereby the article to-be operated on will be positively delivered in an unerring manner to the said machine in the required position, as will be hereinaiter more fully explained.

In explaining the mechanical devices used, and their mode ot' co-operation t'or the purpose mentioned, I propose to select metallic cartridge-shells as thearticles to be operated on, and to show that, although thrown promiscu' ously and in large numbers into the hopper, they will be unerringly presented to a headingmaehine, for the purpose ot' forming a ilange thereon, with their closed ends foremost; but while using these shells as a means for explaining the operation ot' my feeder, I do not wish to be understood as eonlining myself to this especial use, as the device which I have invented is applicable with equally good results to any articles which are required to be ted in a given position to any machine. IV ith these premises I proceed with the explanation.

l-n the annexed drawings, A designates a prefeably rectangular bottomless =l1opper, which is rigidly, but removably, secured to the upper horizontal edge o'f a sectional 'cylindrical casing, B, for a rotating feed or drop wheel, C, having its bearings in the said case, and operated either by means ot' a crank-arm, o, or by means of any other available or suitable motor, through the. medium ot' a band-wheel applied upon the end of the shaft ot' the said wheel. This wheel is provided with a suitable number of pockets or cups, l), cut radially in its periphery; also, with transverse corrugations c, and a peripheral longitudinal groove, c', for a purpose hereinafter explained. (lasing l c( nnmunicates by means ot' a throa-t, (I, with an inclined and preferably sectional tubular duct, l), whence the cartridge-shells are dev livered through a detachable nozzle, E, to the header. lt' the hopper be now charged with shells, and the feed-wheel be rotated, as each cup l) comes uppermost it will receive one ot` these shells, and will be carried around by wheel C in its rotation until it reaches throat d, falling through which it will be discharged through nozzle E with that end downward which was uppermost when the shell entered the said cup. This would cause the open end et' the shell to be presented quite as often as its closed end. rlhe latter being the one desired, I cause it to be always presented by the tollowin g simple device, to wit: ltecesses t' fi. are cut in eduction-tube D', at or near the eenter ot' its length, into the former ot' which a hooked catch, j, is adjustably secured with its point upward, and slightly projecting beyond the edge ot' the tubular conduit, as shown in Fig. 2. rIhe other recess, i', is nearly semicircular in form, and it extends a certain distance above recess i. It', now, a shell is discharged into eduetion-tubel) with its open end downward, hook j will become engaged over the edge ot' the shell, arresting its downward progress momentarily, and causing it to rotate upon thel said hook as a pivot into recess i',

with its closed end down, when, falling oit" the hook, it will escape Jfrom nozzle E with the desircd end foremost. XV ith a view of preventing pipe l) from beingclogged by a shell lodg ing erosswise to its enlarged upper en'd, I use spring throat-plates F, rigidly secured as to their lower ends in the said tube, and extend or clogging up the ing upward to throat d, at which point their ends diverge, forming a device in the nature of a funnel. These plates are adjustable to or from each other, for the purpose of' Widening and narrowing the throat by means of setscrews s passing` through the Walls of the said tube, and abutting against the said plates, as shown in. Fig. 2. Casin g Il, before alluded to, has an extension, b, with a segmental bottoni, over which issecured to the end of the said extension an agitator, G, engaging With cor- -rugations c of the feed- Wheel7 so that When the latter is actuated it vibratory motion to the prevent the shells resting thereon from casing, thus insuring their being accurately fed to the wheel. This agitator is preferably made of spring-steel, but any other elastic springy metal may be used, if in practice it proves desirable-- Vith a view to guiding the shells accurately to their places in the feed-cups, and to prevent them from lodging crosswise over the edge of the saine, whereby they would be mashed and pnt ont of shape, I malte use ot' a clearing-linger, H, rigidly secured at l to the wheelcasing, and having a pointed end, h, Working smoothly in the peripheral groove c. Finger I-I being fixed, and the Wheel movable upon its axis, every part of the said wheel will be operated en by the said finger, and in the event of tivo or more shells becoming jammed over any 011e vof the pockets at the moment the said pocket comes under they finger, this clog or glut will be effectnally broken up. l also use lingers 7c, rigidly secured in any suitable manner to the casing, arranged at each side of the saine, and

will impart a rapid extending a suitablel distance over the periph'- ery of the leed-wheel, which Yfingers are bev a channel, engaging elcd or inclined to l'orin agitator, and will thussettling with which the shells will be moved toward the middle of the feed-Wheel into groove 0';

whence they will fall into the cups or pockets.

In practice, where it is necessary to deliver 2. The eduetion-tnbe D, having recesses i 'i'.

and hook j, adapted for use substantially as specified.

3. The adjustable throatsprings F, in 'comA bination with a' feed-wheel, G, and hopper B, substantially as specified.

4. The ingerH, in combination with a pe" ripherally-grooved feed-wheel, C, substantially as specified.

5. The fingers k, in combination with a pc ripherally-grooved feed-whee1, having pockets b, substantially as specified.

6. The feed-Wheel C, having corrugations c, peripheral groove c', and cups b, substantially as specified.; i y v 7. The agitator-spring G, in combination with a transversely-corrugated feed-Wheel, (l, and a hopper, A, substantially as specified.

Intestiinony hereunto subscribed my name of two witnesses.

AUGUSTUS C. CAREY.

in the presence Witnesses;

J os. B. Looms, GEORGE E. Urnan.

that I claim the above I have 

